


Angel of Thursday

by Hikary



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Extended Families, F/M, Foster Care, Grandparents & Grandchildren, M/M, Mention of (a fictional) foster care system, Parents Han and Leia, Rey Antilles, Rey Skywalker, dog!Cody, dog!Rex, this fic is an excuse to make dog-related jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-28 02:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20418101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikary/pseuds/Hikary
Summary: The first lesson his mother has thaught Anakin is that family is never defined by blood or genetics: there is a special force that bounds you and your people together, and let you find each other, over and over again.Jyn Erso couldn’t agree more.





	Angel of Thursday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gondolin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gondolin/gifts).

> WELCOME TO THE “THIS GALAXY NEEDS OLIVIA BENSON!AU” also known as the “I SHOULD WATCH LESS LAW&ORDER: SVU!AU” also known as “I work the night shift and some days I got too much free time in my hands”. 
> 
> Desclaimer: this is not a verosimile story. The setting is a non-space Star Wars verse (like the modern AUs in the GoT fandom, so, an imaginary Star Wars-like region in the UK basically). Any law/etc mentioned here is completely fictional and (hopefully) it should mirror the laws/Jedi rules from the canon. If there’s a tag for that, I’d love to know which one it is!
> 
> Every single stupid joke about dogs is because I am a great friend. Ask Gondolin. I am amazing. I’m so funny. (If you didn’t grow up in Europe, you might wanna check out the END NOTES first. It’s absolutely not fundamental for the plot.)
> 
> (Obvious credits to Mr Collins for the title.)

**[Anakin Skywalker]**

Anakin could never remember the beginning. _They_ said it was perfectly normal to have no memory of your very first year of life - in fact, everybody didn't. _Everybody. _It had always been Anakin's least favourite word - _everybody, but him. _Everybody found talking to people easier than building a robot. Everybody was more afraid of dying than dreaming (Anakin was pretty sure you _cannot_ have nightmares when you're dead). Everybody _saw _when people where sad, they didn't _feel _ their pain cursing through their own body like a thousand jolts of electricity. 

Everybody, but Anakin.

Mum used to tell him a story about how he came into this world. She said he didn't have a father - unlike _everybody else_ \- because neither of them needed one; but there was a special _something_, something that was just _theirs_ and would bound them together for the rest of eternity. Mum called it a feeling, or a _force_, where all good things and good people belong. _It's not blood, Ani_, mum always said, _it's not genetics that make a family_. _Always trust the good force, and the people it will bring into your life_. _Even when they take you away from home_, he often thought to himself, trying to swallow that last drop of bitterness that somehow had been stuck in his throat for years. And when he did, he glanced at Obi-Wan - because one could hardly be seen without the other - and wondered whether the man felt the same.

\- Dark thoughts? - the man would ask, if he noticed Anakin staring.

\- Almost. Grey-ish. - 

\- What do we say to them, Ani? -

\- _Fuck them. - _and Anakin would tilt his head, returning the man's warm smile with a cheeky grin.

\- Something close to that concept, minus the swearing. I suppose it is not a big deal, as long as Mace doesn't catch you saying that. -

\- 'Heard him swearing once. He was shouting at his, and I quote, _'motherfucking light-' -_

Obi-Wan would usually cut him off with a horrified expression.

He was nothing like Qui-Gon, although Anakin could have never said it out loud. He hadn't quite figured out yet if that would have been a compliment or an insult. He didn't mean it in any particular way - it was just a note, a commentary on Obi-Wan's behaviour, because Anakin was not really interested in judging people. He had loved good people and bad people and stupid people, he had admired terrible humans and hated those who had practically saved his life and gave him a home. Qui-Gon had been kind to him and his mum; Anakin had an affectionate thought for him every time he was hungry and knew he could have food. Every time he sank his teeth in a piece of bread and he remembered it was on his table not because he had scammed or fought his way to it, but because someone told him - and had to repeat it, over and over, for months - that it was Anakin's right to be fed. _What's a right?, _little Ani had asked, when the tall man with a funny coat had found him and his mum inside that pathetic excuse of a house Watto had put them into. _A right is something everyone deserves just because they're alive, _Qui-Gon had given a gentle squeeze to one of the child's bony shoulders, _and sometimes that's hard enough, isn't it Anakin? Being alive is not easy. _When Qui-Gon had touched him, Anakin was sure, the magic force mum talked about had buzzed and sent goosebumps all over him. He had whispered it to her, excited and yet scared, when he had agreed to go with him. Such a stupid kid, he could see it now: he remembered being confused by his mother's smile, when he could feel how sad she was _on the inside. _

_They_ said it wasn't okay, because Anakin was so attached to Obi-Wan and _attachments were forbidden_. Anakin understood there were rules, and rules were there for a reason; and yet, Anakin had been the last kid to come and live there, and he hadn’t heard about rules or attachments or any of this before, so he thought it was okay to agree with everything he was told, and then do it his own way behind their back. He could't quite wrap his mind around this anyway - how can you decide not to feel things? Because, seriously, if there was a class to learn how to _unfeel_ feelings, he would have been the first to sign up. There was so much he wanted to _unfeel_. So much.

Qui-Gon would have probably known how to talk to Obi-Wan better - perhaps to Anakin, too - but he was not there anymore; so the two of them, _the most unlikely pair, _to quote Mace Windu, were forced to manage on their own. One of his earliest, clearest memories of moving here - with all the other kids and short, wrinkled old Yoda who never got the phrasing of _anything_ right - was about Obi-Wan being 'too young'. Everyone, including Obi-Wan himself, was screaming about how young he was - Ani missed the point of the discussion, although he secretly disagreed, Obi-Wan was definitely a proper adult to him. Then, suddenly, he woke up one day and Obi-Wan was _too old for him_. Anakin, apparently, had been the only one to miss the transition, but everyone seemed to share the same opinion. _Everyone but Anakin_, as usual.

Obi-Wan had always been awkward about feelings, so ever cautious he had probably never uttered a single 'I love you'. And not in the more recent 'I return your objectively justified crush on me'-way, no. Anakin had grown into a realistic young man, after all, he would have never expected that. He meant _before_, when he was a kid, and he was genuinely and profoundly grateful for the respect and the special training and the unreal mediation skills he would _definitely_ put at good use during his life, but he also knew a fucking hug would have not killed anyone. They said hugging was out of question. Padmé was out of question. Visiting his mum was out of question. Everything remotely human seemed always out of question.

Padmé was always one to play respectfully, by the rules, but also one to make new rules when the old ones sucked. She always gave Anakin a massive squeeze before they parted. Especially when they parted for a very long time. Anakin thought Padmé was the smartest, bravest, most beautiful human being in the whole Galaxy, and had told her so, once, when he was nine.

(He had killed enough people to wanted to lose count, and yet, that 9-year-old love confession was still the most shameful memory he had.)

It was unreal how much he could remember in that precise moment. Everything burned, inside and outside him, a perfect match between the physical world out there, and the magic force, his mum's force, buzzing under his skin. The pain was crazy, but so was the sight of his limbs literally _melting, _swallowed by an ocean of piping red. Obi-Wan was screaming, and for once he knew he was not just in his head. He was saying it all - the _I love you_s he forgot on the way, that Anakin had always heard echoing in the force.

He was thinking of Padmé, a moment ago. Of Padmé, and dead people. How bizarre, since he might have just killed her. 

Anakin listened carefully. 

_I loved you_. 

Right now, with his body on fire, stupid with pain, a faint memory of his own hands around Padmé's neck flashing before his eyes, everything made sense. For once, he felt the noise is his head growing more and more quiet, covered by Obi-Wan's words.

_I loved you_.

_I wanted to love you, Anakin, but you can't be loved for long, because you never really deserved it._

**[Jyn Erso]**

Jyn had been waiting her whole life for this. A story crazier than the one she had been force to tell when people asked _how did you get into Child Services? _Only two people had taken it in with a straight face (okay, _three_ including Luke Skywalker, but everyone agreed he was _not _a real person anyway), and Leia had been the first. Bossy, kind, smart as hell Leia, who had walked into her office that morning with the face of someone who had seen a ghost; but not the _normal _face of someone who's seen a spirit, _nope. _She was going to catch the fucking ghost, Jyn saw that written all over her face. 

She sighed and checked the address on her phone. She smiled like an idiot at the little red mark on Telegram - that was probably Cassian. _No_, she mentally slapped herself, she was _not _smiling because Cassian had _already_ replied. She was definitely smiling because of her cute background with puppies. Cassian was Leia's fault, too, of course. And he was also the second person who simply accepted her backstory. They talked about that the first day they had been alone in the office. _My parents are astronauts_, she always started with the least unusual bit, although 'astronaut' was not exactly a 9 to 5 job, _and one time they had this big, important mission that apparently went rogue, so I wanted to move in with Uncle Sa, and it was a nightmare because, uhm, uncle Sal is techincally not my uncle. But then, after a few years, they popped back into the atmosphere, NASA caught them, and that was it. _Cassian hadn't even flinched. _So, you almost ended up into the system because NASA lost your parents in space? _and, when she nodded, _Cool, wanna grab a coffee? _

But the idea that she had a crush on him, and that _he_ had a crush on _her,_ only existed in Leia's head. (And Jyn's dad's. And Bhodi's. And Luke's. And Chirrut's. And literally every single one of those shitty backstabbers she called 'friends'.)

Jyn re-focused on her phone. Only then, she noticed the puppy background had been changed for a picture of her and Cassian on the beach, playing with Key_. _Leia. _Goddamn Leia_.

When she stepped inside the main entrance, she immediately spotted the twins, and waved at them enthusastically. Leia sighed, and squeezed Luke's arm with an unnecessary amount of strength. Instead of complaining, her twin put said arm around her shoulders. 

\- Here I am, ready to shove my 'NASA lost mum and daddy' story right were it belongs. -

\- Leia was all worried you wouldn't come. See, I told you Jyn would have never ditched us. - 

\- Even though I took a pic of her an Cassian last weekend, and put it as background on your phone? - Leia let out all in one breath.

\- Well, and here your dad thought dating Han would have been the most dangerous thing his little princess could have ever done. -

\- That's not what he said at my wedding. And if he did, I didn't hear him over the sobbing. -

\- Guys, I'm all for shaming our parents with their most embarrassing moments, but. It's ten in the morning, it's also Thursday, which means I should be working, and we are- where are we, exactly? -

\- So, yeah. - Leia cleared her throat. - This is were they keep our...father. - 

From her face, Jyn could tell that must have had a bitter sound on her tongue. Not _maliciously_ bitter, as neither Leia nor Luke could really say they _knew_ their biological father.

\- I'm... I'm honored that you guys want me to meet him. I am. I just don't...I don't get it. This morning, you said something about Ben? -

\- Ben took Han's laptop the other day. - there again, Leia spitting pieces of information, as if she had to choose between keeping them inside or getting more air to breathe. 

\- And? -

\- He found this article. About his grandfather, somehow he put the pieces together- -

\- He _looked for it_. - Luke cut in. - You know he's smart enough, it's almost creepy for a 9-year-old. He wants to know things about us. About himself, in a way. -

\- Okay. - Jyn nodded cautiously - Was it a decent article? Or some piece of garbage gossip? -

\- Something in-between, I guess. _This is all my fault._ \- 

Luke promptly hugged her, and planted a gentle kiss on top of her head. Jyn knew how much Leia loved her family. She had spent years tracking down every single person who had ever came into contact with her biological parents. She had flown to Bengala to meet Ahsoka Tano, the world most famous Wild Cats expert, because she grew up in the same foster home as her biological father. She had personally walked into the police station, after months of shouting matches over the phone, and refused to leave until she was given the personal objects of her paternal grandmother. That had been a nasty one. The murder of Shmi Skywalker had been marked as unresolved, which put everyone in the awkward position of keeping the evidence in a box, without any means to use it ever again. Finding her twin brother had been almost easy, compared to that.

\- Leia, c'mon. It's the Internet. You can't fight _that_. - 

\- Luke's right. And I am sure Ben will rather believe your story that some online article's he found. -

\- Here's the point. I know why Ben did it - he wants his grandfather. He wants to see himself in someone, and let's face it, he doesn't really take after me or his dad that much. I...I can relate. Meeting Padmé had meant so much to me. - she looked up at her brother. - To both of us. -

Jyn instinctively smiled at the image of Padmé Amidala, the twin's biological mother. A tiny but fierce old lady, who always spoke in a low voice because of some accident with her vocal cords Leia never elaborated on. Jyn was there the first time Rey had called her 'grandma'. Jyn had seen that spark in her eyes. If Leia thought meeting Padmé had meant a lot to them, Jyn could hardly imagine how the woman had felt when the twins had shown up at her door. Of course they had _not_ showed up on her door _exactly_, because there were rules and laws about adoption, and they were there for a reason. Jyn was a rebellious soul, but she had been raised knowing that good rules will only make everyone happier, even when they seemed to make everyone unhappy at first. God knew how much she wanted to hug and cuddle and spoil every child she had worked with. What a boost to her ego would have been to have the children say they'll always prefer _her_ over any adoptive parents, or over they neglecting biological parents - but that's not why she was there. _You ain't in for the fight_, Mace Windu had told her one of his last days before retiring, _you're here to heal, to sooth the pain. You watch over. _

And the twins were not much different from her kids, right now. Therefore, she decided not to ask for more details - where had their father been, all those years? Mental hospital? Jail? Both?. She took Leia's hand.

\- Ben is a great kid. You're a great mum. Whatever you think it's best, _it is_. -

\- Thank you, Jyn. -

\- So, you want Ben to meet Mr Skywalker? -

To Jyn's surprise, Leia shook her head.

\- Not really. I need to think about that. And Father doesn't understand much of what happens around him. The wounds still require so many strong medicines, for the pain. 'Cause, you know. The fire. -

Jyn swallowed hard, and nodded. 

Yes, the fire. The fire Anakin Skywalker had started pretty much around the time Leia and Luke were born, killing what he belived to be his mother’s assassins and a few unfortunate bystanders. He had received some permanent injuries himself, although, according to Leila's slow, painful recount of her family history, that wasn't the worst possible outcome.

\- And obviously the article was much more interested in telling the story the 20-year-old genius psychopath who killed a dozen people he thought responsible for his mother'd death. Just lacking a little bit of context, as usual, like the fact he was basically raised like a slave, and then the system fucked him up, and- - Leia took the umpteenth deep breath - _everything,_ you know. -

\- But then - and here came Luke, the ray on sunshine in human form - something amazing happened. Me and Wedge had a day off on _Wednesday_. -

\- Fascinating. -

\- _Jyn. _That's a weekly day. And a _double show_ day. We _had _to see a musical with Rey. So, I decided to go and visit Father on Thursday- -

\- And we _never_ come on Thursday! - Leia piped in.

Jyn was about to start shaking them both to get to the point, when something in her brain just clicked.

\- Oh my god. Don't tell me. You _saw him_. -

\- I did! Mr Thursday. Every nurse's favourite. The guy who had been visiting Father for who knows how long, and who knows why he's allowed. -

\- Like, honestly, I thought Mr Yoda slept with a copy of the Skywalker file under his pillow. -

\- Eh, I bet he does. - Jyn agreed. - He's probably terrified they would make a movie out of it, and got his 'no attachments rule' all wrong'. -

She was extremely pleased to see the twins giggle, in spite of the situation.

\- Jyn, I told Leia and she was skeptical at first, but you gotta believe me: the guy is _Uncle Ben! -_

_\- Wait, wait, wait._ You mean the old guy you met one summer at the beach when you were a kid, that we all agreed was your imaginary friend? -

\- Hey! -

\- We did, sorry. -

\- Even Wedge. - Leia added.

\- _Anyway_. It was him, I swear. He had the same service dog, what was his name...? -

\- Rex. - Leia offered. - Because, you know, it's like the most common name ever for a German Sheppard. -

\- I think it's an Australian Sheppard- -

\- A big domestic wolf that does smart stuff is a German Sheppard by definition. -

\- _Jyn. -_

_\- _Sorry, sorry. Missing the point. I just can't believe all these coincidences, okay? A random guy who could be your grandpa decides to be your best buddy for the summer. You parents don't freak out. The guy doesn't kidnap you. And, what, twenty years later, you find out one of the old people he likes to visit for fun is your biological father. Oh, wait. -

Leia grinned.

\- This is not a coincidence. You parents know who he is. And Padmé set you up to this. -

\- Almost. Padmé doesn't know yet. I thought he must have been someone who worked at the foster house, so I finally decided to ask my parents and ...unlike most of the times I have asked something about Father, they seemed pretty happy. Papa told me that about 30 years ago one of Father's carers got in touch with him and mum personally - they were friends from college. He thought they would have been the perfect family for a baby girl whose parents were unable to care for her. Spoiler alert, enter _baby me. _-

\- And how come he never contacted him when you started looking for Luke? -

\- He did. He was retired, but Mr Yoda wanted his opinion. And Papa laughed, because apparently that wasn't something Mr Yoda would normally say. -

\- Indeed. - Jyn couldn't even begin to imagine Mr Yoda even _listening_ to other people. - And what did he say? -

\- He said, and I quote, that from what he had seen, Luke and I were two amazing, gorgeous, and kind persons, and he couldn't think of a better ending than reunite us, and Padmé. -

\- But he also said he felt responsible for too many things that went wrong in Father's life, and he would never compromise ours. - Luke added.

\- And of course, we are not respecting his will and we are here to track him down and get as many information as we can while he's still breathing. Am I right, twins? -

Jyn was not opposed to the idea of talking to him per se, but maybe the poor man had his reason if he wanted to be left alone with his New Zealand Sheppard. Australian. Whatever. Same difference.

\- Jyn. He basically spent half of his life with Anakin and Padmé, he was there when we were born, he watch over us while we were growing up. He is our third father ad honorem. He's the grandfather Ben should talk to. -

For a moment, Jyn wondered why Ben Solo couldn't ask for normal stuff like airplanes or puppies, instead of long-lost semi-relatives.

\- Great. Let's go and find Grandpa Number 3. What's his name again? -

\- Mr Kenobi. Obi-Wan Kenobi -

** [Obi-Wan Kenobi]**

It all comes and goes in flashes, especially at night. Not that he is forgetting or trying to; he could still draw his own life as much as Anakin's with his eyes closed. He could draw them as if they had been the same life, from a certain moment on. 

Perhaps, it was.

One memory always stood out: his mentor, the man he admired the most in the whole universe, the role model for whose approval he would have been willing to go to the end of the Earth and back, showing up as his door with a ridiculously fancy white bathrobe, complete with a belt, and a pair of fluffy slippers. His long, thin hair was still fresh damp from the shower, and he was squinting hard as said hair persisted dripping water on his own face. Here stood Qui-Gon Jyn, Senior Social Worker in charge of Obi-Wan’s training, with one of the most important lessons on timing and priority. There is _no reason_ ever in the history of their profession that can stop you from finally remove a child from an abusive household. And you can’t be held accountable for your outfit in said circumstances.

He had wondered quite often what kind of impression they had made on Anakin on that very first visit. The only respectable adult was barely dressed to leave the house, and he brought literally the youngest Social Worker and Attorney from the team. Padmé had definitely made a better impression than himself – she had always had some sort of aura, a natural grace and the gentle assertiveness of a queen.

Obi-Wan missed her dearly.

Next to him, a wolf-looking fluffy dog opened his left eye. As if awaken by his master’s sadness, he promptly rolled over and scooted closer to Obi-Wan, taking up almost the whole couch. The man gave him a grateful scratch behind his ears.

\- _Good boy_. You’d love her, I bet you would. You’d probably love Anakin, too. I mean, the Anakin from before… -

_My Anakin_. He gritted his teeth at the thought. And yet, it sounded so right in his head. He had cared for that kid at his best – without warning, without enough training, when everyone was overworked as fuck to the point Mr Yoda had a post it on his office door to remind everyone (but especially himself) of Qui-Gon’s funeral. How the holy fuck can you _forget a funeral_. Apparently, you can. No one else said anything about the stupid note. After 30 years, it was still what bothered Obi-Wan the most. It was the coldness behind it, the practicality that made him delirious with rage. He _knew_ that Mr Yoda was good at his job, they _all _were, and that a tad of self-control was the key to make everything work. But the fucker had never given an inch, and, in time, Obi-Wan himself had fallen into the same habit. He could count all the hugs he owed Anakin.

That was the truth: Anakin Skywalker had always been special. He should have acknowledged that, he should have looked into his heart and admit once and for all that there was nothing wrong with having a unique connection. He was so busy telling himself that he _he couldn't save them all _that, in the end, he couldn't save even _one_. There were things too wild to be foreseen - like a murderous spree or the mystery of Dr Palpatine, Anakin’s psychiatrist, and whatever the hell he wanted to accomplish. Obi-Wan had become sort of wise, over the years, and he knew the difference between the opportunities he missed and what had always been out of his range: basic human empathy, albeit not one of his natural qualities, fell into the first category. 

In short, he should have been more like Padmé. Then again, _who shouldn’t?_

He stood up with a deep sign, patted his best friend’s head, and dragged his feet across the tiny apartment to fetch his own coat and the dog's leash. Better stop thinking of Padmé now. He liked to go about his weekly visits with a fresh, empty mind. Sometimes, he still felt like Anakin could really dive into other people's emotions and dissect them, no matter how old or sedated he was.

**[Padmé Amidala]**

It was a quiet afternoon. Padmé had put the kettle on a few minutes ago, although she was not sure it made any sense. Leia had said they were _all _coming, with perhaps one more friend, and possibly a well-behaved dog, too. Padmé's kettle could easily fill three nice cups, or four average-size mugs. It was a social tea, not a comfort tea or a read-through tea, so they could have definitely gone for four. Maybe five, she thought, even if the idea of serving half-filled cups (she didn't own any small mugs, she never saw their purpose) bothered her immensely. She almost hoped the kids were not into tea - a disappointment, from a certain point of view, but they were young, they had time to grow and refine their taste.

If they hadn't shown up soon, she would have gone mad staring at the stupid kettle.

Finally, the doorbell rang. Padmé tried to relax her shoulders, and took a deep breath. Out of habit, she reached for her scar - a thin line on the left side of her neck, a memory from her surgery. She loved that scar the way she had never loved any other human after _them_. It was the only tangible memory she had not hallucinated the first thirty years of her life, in spite of not having pretty much anything else left from that time. She could still feel the firm grip of Anakin's hands, tight enough to hurt but that never crossed that line. Padmé often wondered if he knew, if he could still understand that she was fine. She had visited him, once. Anakin had not recognized her, but he could hardly register people's presence anyway. And yet, a nurse had called the following day, saying he hadn't been feeling well after her visit, and that perhaps going back might have not been the best choice. The idea that was all she was to him now - a blurry yet clearly painful memory, a faceless dark cloud - had hurt more than any physical wound.

Her world seemed to shift the moment _her family_ \- she could barely wrap her mind around those words yet, for how wonderful they sounded - stormed into her living room. Rey almost roll over the floor from the excitement, her eyes big and full of unadulterated affection for the elder woman.

\- _Hi granny!_ \- she basically squeaked in Padmé's face.

Behind her, Luke was beaming, one arm around his husband's shoulder.

\- Hi, sweetheart. Come and give this old lady a kiss! -

Rey giggled and threw himself at Padmé. Next to her, Ben looked ridiculously embarrassed and collected for a 9-year-old.

\- Hi granny Padmé. - he murmured, taking a small step toward the woman; and then, when Padmé had captured him into a hug - _I missed you_. -

\- _I missed you, too, dear._ -

If Rey had seemed excited, Leia was a live wire. Han had given up trying to take her arm. He exchanged an exasperated look with Jyn Erso, whom Padmé remembered from a previous visit, both of them clearly amused by Leia's impatience. Padmé allowed the twins - _her_ twins - to trap her in a double hug. She laughed, and for a split second, there was nothing beyond this - the three of them, how they should have been, together.

\- We brought a guest. - Leia announced, her mouth smiling but her eyes filled with a specific shade of worry Padmé didn't quite catch.

\- Someone you know, and who wasn't too enthusiastic about coming over unannounced. But, you know - Luke shrugged - _Leia_. -

Padmé grinned at that.

\- I know very well, yes. And I'm very curious. -

Luke cleared is throat. Before Padmé could even come up with any hypothesis, there _he _was. She swore she could hear the universe stop there and then, and she was grateful the twins were so close because she felt dizzy. The man was still standing in the door frame, as if waiting for her permission.

Padmé was past giving a single fuck about permission.

She crossed the room with a few, long steps, marching down like a soldier, and suddenly her head felt lighter as the man met her halfway, holding her so tight Luke made a little concerned noise. 

\- _You asshole. - _ she whispered, and they both giggled stupidly when Rey asked, in small voice, if grandma had just said a bad word.

Wedge picked up his daughter and started to explain how that was a special circumstance, while Rey looked totally skeptical. After that, the mood in the room became definitely more cheerful.

Padmé didn't know how to let go of Obi-Wan, and yet she knew she had to, eventually. She had to learn how to live with the knowledge he was within reach again, and overcome the fear he might disappear. She opted for petting the dog.

\- This isn't...hell, it's been too long. He would be what, 40-year-old? -

\- This is Rex. - Obi-Wan smiled fondly at his furry friend. - Cody passed away a while ago. We had a good life together. I never thought I could get another dog, until I saw this handsome fella here... -

\- God, I know what you mean. They are _identical_. It's almost creepy. -

Rey, of course, was the first to start a conversation with Obi-Wan, purely because she was dying to play with Rex. (Or so she let everyone think.) Slowly, the family seemed to come together in the most natural way: without haste or forced proximity, they simply began to gravitate around each other, planting the foundation for a brand new set of relationships. Padmé ended up sitting happily on the sofa, between her in-laws, congratulating her children for having such an excellent taste in husbands and trying to get poor Jyn to admit whether there was any Mr or Mrs Erso in the foreseeable future. Luke had covered his mouth with a hand, eyes jumping from Leia to their mother. The thought he might be smiling at their similarities would have make Padmé's eyes wet any other day. But today, she would use up all of her energy to be content. She would think of Anakin and his gentle, child-like smile, as he asked her if she believed in choosing your family. If she could feel that special feeling, that magical force that kept them all connected.

Perhaps, she had learned to.

Something made her look at the further corner of the room. She saw Ben, as quiet and serious as ever, approaching Obi-Wan, who was sitting in the only armchair. For a long moment, they just stared at each other, a once-in-a-lifetime match of awkwardness. Then, as if Anakin's invisible force had pushed him all of a sudden, Obi-Wan extended both hands, and Ben let himself be picked up and sat on the man's lap.

\- Hi, Ben. - Obi-Wan smiled like Padmé had only seen him do a lifetime ago, like he had been saving that one smile from their last happy memory with Anakin especially for Ben. 

\- _Hi, grandpa_. -

[the end]

**Author's Note:**

> One might ask, why having Jyn Erso’s POV in a story that’s fundamentally about the Skywalkers? But let me answer with a better question: why not?
> 
> Note for non-European readers: ‘Kommissar Rex’ (and all its traslations, meaning more or less ‘Chief Police Rex’) was a tv show or, more likely, a religion that was extremely popular in Europe in the 90s and early 2000s. LOL It’s an Austrian crime show about a German Sherphed named Rex who solves crimes as part of the Homicide Squad in Wien. I’m not even joking. He even changes his human partners through the NINE SEASONS – some died, some left. IT’S THE BEST TV SHOW EVER. My favourite thing is that it used to be considered children-friendly because of the dog, while in reality everyone knew that Austrian/German crime shows are awesome and terrifying. I saw some fucked up shift that kept me awake at night, but everything was okay because a giant fluffy dog was involved. (Literally, there are some episodes about Satanic groups doing human sacrifices, organ traffickers selling children, and one episode out of five was about stalking and/or abusive husbands trying to kill their family. I wasn’t allowed to watch Buffy because EWWWW, VAMPIRES! but this was okay.)


End file.
